Ships In The Night
by Abigail Esss
Summary: Modern AU following the love story of Mary and Matthew. It starts with Matthew seeing Mary for the first time in a bar and instantly falling in love with her. It runs from there.
1. Secret Glances

**Ships in the night.**

There she sat- the perfect ivory statue. Her brown hair tumbled down her back as she leaned over the bar. Mary Crawley always managed to capture his gaze and if he was lucky she would smile that beautiful smile at him but it was very rare. Instead he had to live with watching her from afar; he couldn't resist drowning in her deep eyes and the white mask she wore on her face to hide her emotions. It was this sign of deception that intrigued him the most, somehow he couldn't pull away from this and he wanted to know what it was that lay underneath the mask.

"Matthew there you are! We were being to think that you weren't coming." It was Edward, Matthew's business partner.

"You know me Ed; I always leave things to the last minute."

"Yes I do and I also know that a certain Mary Crawley will never be interested in you so you need to stop staring at her because it is becoming slightly stalker-like. Now you can get the drinks in since you were late- I'll have a vodka tonic. I will be somewhere over there will the good looking blonde that has being given me the eye all night." Matthew chuckled to himself at this comment.

He walked slowly over to the bar and to where she was sitting but she didn't even notice him.

"What can I get you mate?" The barman asked.

"Erm one vodka tonic, a Bacardi and coke and whatever the beautiful young lady next to me would like." At this, Mary Crawley finally looked up and saw him.

"Me?" She questioned and at his slightly embarrassed nod she continued "a strawberry daiquiri please."

"That will be £12 please mate." Matthew handed the barman a £15 note and responded "Keep the change." He then turned his attention to Mary who had faded back into her own little world.

"So Mary isn't it? How come you're drinking alone?"

"Oh erm no reason I just don't have anyone that I wanted to go out with tonight. What's your excuse? After all you did buy more than one drink and you don't look like the type of person who would down both of them." He smirked at her remark.

"Well actually it was for my friend who appears to have abandoned me for some "FIT" blonde."

"Do you think she is "FIT"?"

"No Mary, I don't- how rude of me I never even told you my name. I'm Matthew."

"It's nice to meet you Matthew. So what do you do for a living?"

The pair sat for hours talking about almost everything they could think of from their lifestyles to their likes and dislikes. Every now and again Matthew kept drowning in her chestnut eyes and had to fight to pull away from the ocean of brown. It wasn't until the clock struck midnight that they finally decided to go their separate ways.

"Matthew, was that a date?" He stopped and spun.

"Yeah I think it may have been Mary." She smiled at him, her warm smile. "Would it be rude for me to ask if we could possibly do it again sometime?"

"Not at all Matthew. I will text you." And without further ado she walked out of the club.

Did that really just happen or was it just a dream? It must have been there is no way that he could have scored a first date with Mary Crawley let alone a second.

"Mary…" it was too late she was gone "you don't even have my number."

Damn it he thought to himself just when he got the chance to talk to the most beautiful woman, he forgot to ask for her number! Well he would just have to hope that he would bump into her.

"Mr Crawley I hear a congratulations are in order. You managed to score with Mary Crawley- isn't it odd how you have the same surname?" it was Edward no doubt back to mock him "I was going to ask where my drink got to but I figured that since you were sitting with the 'girl of your dreams', I had better not interrupt. So how did it go?"

"Well if you must know Ed, it was going swimmingly until we arranged a second date and I forgot to exchange numbers with her." Edward chuckled at this remark.

"Don't worry mate, we will have her in the records, all you have to do is look her up."

Bingo! Matthew Matthemmw thought, now all he would have to do is search the records and find the lovely Mary Crawley.


	2. Chapter 2

Ships in the night.

There she sat- the perfect ivory statue. Her brown hair tumbled down her back as she leaned over the bar. Mary Crawley always managed to capture his gaze and if he was lucky she would smile that beautiful smile at him but it was very rare. Instead he had to live with watching her from afar; he couldn't resist drowning in her deep eyes and the white mask she wore on her face to hide her emotions. It was this sign of deception that intrigued him the most, somehow he couldn't pull away from this and he wanted to know what it was that lay underneath the mask.

"Matthew there you are! We were being to think that you weren't coming." It was Edward, Matthew's business partner.

"You know me Ed; I always leave things to the last minute."

"Yes I do and I also know that a certain Mary Crawley will never be interested in you so you need to stop staring at her because it is becoming slightly stalker-like. Now you can get the drinks in since you were late- I'll have a vodka tonic. I will be somewhere over there will the good looking blonde that has being given me the eye all night." Matthew chuckled to himself at this comment.

He walked slowly over to the bar and to where she was sitting but she didn't even notice him.

"What can I get you mate?" The barman asked.

"Erm one vodka tonic, a Bacardi and coke and whatever the beautiful young lady next to me would like." At this, Mary Crawley finally looked up and saw him.

"Me?" She questioned and at his slightly embarrassed nod she continued "a strawberry daiquiri please."

"That will be £12 please mate." Matthew handed the barman a £15 note and responded "Keep the change." He then turned his attention to Mary who had faded back into her own little world.

"So Mary isn't it? How come you're drinking alone?"

"Oh erm no reason I just don't have anyone that I wanted to go out with tonight. What's your excuse? After all you did buy more than one drink and you don't look like the type of person who would down both of them." He smirked at her remark.

"Well actually it was for my friend who appears to have abandoned me for some "FIT" blonde."

"Do you think she is "FIT"?"

"No Mary, I don't- how rude of me I never even told you my name. I'm Matthew."

"It's nice to meet you Matthew. So what do you do for a living?"

The pair sat for hours talking about almost everything they could think of from their lifestyles to their likes and dislikes. Every now and again Matthew kept drowning in her chestnut eyes and had to fight to pull away from the ocean of brown. It wasn't until the clock struck midnight that they finally decided to go their separate ways.

"Matthew, was that a date?" He stopped and spun.

"Yeah I think it may have been Mary." She smiled at him, her warm smile. "Would it be rude for me to ask if we could possibly do it again sometime?"

"Not at all Matthew. I will text you." And without further ado she walked out of the club.

Did that really just happen or was it just a dream? It must have been there is no way that he could have scored a first date with Mary Crawley let alone a second.

"Mary…" it was too late she was gone "you don't even have my number."

Damn it he thought to himself just when he got the chance to talk to the most beautiful woman, he forgot to ask for her number! Well he would just have to hope that he would bump into her.

"Mr Crawley I hear a congratulations are in order. You managed to score with Mary Crawley- isn't it odd how you have the same surname?" it was Edward no doubt back to mock him "I was going to ask where my drink got to but I figured that since you were sitting with the 'girl of your dreams', I had better not interrupt. So how did it go?"

"Well if you must know Ed, it was going swimmingly until we arranged a second date and I forgot to exchange numbers with her." Edward chuckled at this remark.

"Don't worry mate, we have her in the records, all you have to do is look her up."

Bingo! Matthew Matthemmw thought, now all he would have to do is search the records and find the lovely Mary Crawley.

Anna smith drew the velvet curtains in the darkened room, allowing light to cascade through the windows and consequently forcing Mary Crawley to stir.

"What time is it?" She wined as she rolled over to stop the light from blinding her.

"Time for you to get up, you missed your coffee morning with your mother…"

"Oh flip- was she annoyed?"

"No she just said as long as it was for a good cause, of course I told it was- you had some charity event to organise. I will allow you to ring her and inform her of a day to reschedule. Oh and before I forget your grandmother called requesting you visit her in New Port."

"What else have I to do today?"

"Not a lot – I take it by the extent of your hangover that you had a good night?" A small smile grew across Mary's face. "Come on then out with it."

"Oh, Anna why is it that you know me so well? I met a guy but not just any guy, he was considerate, interesting, quite bold and very, very good looking!"

"You say that about them all!" Her friend commented.

"I know, but this one was special. He didn't look at me the way the others do and he made me laugh…" Mary turned to look at her best friend who just stared blankly at her "Go on get out so I can get dressed." She throw a pillow towards the other woman- the women she trusted most in her life.

Half an hour later the two were sat in Le Café Magasin (their favourite coffee shop) discussing the events of the night before. The sun was shining brightly and they were sitting outside both drinking lattes. Mary was dressed in black skinny jeans, a pink tank top and black leather jacket whereas Anna was dressed in a baby blue day time dress and flip-flops. Both looked stunning.

"So… let me get this straight, you're on 'date' with a really fit guy and you don't even give him your number to contact you? What is wrong with you girl? Are you mental?"

"No, just totally drunk and now hung-over. I'm not drinking alcohol ever again."

"Don't make me laugh Mary, we both know that by this time next week, you will have been on a least one night out and got hammered."

"Nope, Anna I'm on an alcohol diet- do they even exist? The point is I'm not getting drunk ever again, it's just not worth the hang-overs." The two continued talking about nothing important until they had both finished their lattes and then they went their separate ways for the afternoon before they planned on meeting up for the evening.

"C, C, C." Matthew Crawley sat at his desk in his office scrolling through all of the names on the client database. The sun was shining outside and the rays were glowing through the office blinds creating spotlights on the floor. He had been sitting there all morning and was only at the Cs- in his opinion; the company had way too many clients.

"Come on mate, you've been there since you got there. You haven't had lunch and half an hour won't make a difference trust me!" It was Edward.

"No I've got to find her… wait a minute… she's not here! You have got some explaining to do- 'she is definitely on the list, I had some matter to sort out with her last year and she is on the records!'"

"She isn't? Well she should be. I know her address but not her number I'm sorry mate."

"You know her address..."

"Don't even think about it. It's bad enough that you have sat all morning looking for her number but there is no way that I'm giving her your address so that you can stalk her- it's just not happening." For the next half an hour Matthew practically bragged Edward to give him Mary's address but he remained stubborn and refused so Matthew eventually gave in.

"Come on Anna, where are you?" Mary Crawley thought out loud. She was sitting in the Bluebird in Chelsea (her favourite restaurant) waiting for her friend to show as they had arranged to have a meal out together in an attempt to properly catch up with each other instead of having conversations between them both working. Anna worked as Mary's PA and did everything from filing paperwork to waking Mary up. The two were also best friends which made it easier for them to work together. Mary was an events planner and arranged all of the a-list events as well as hosting a lot of her own and considering she was only 26, she had done well for herself.

"What can I get you miss?" One of waiters asked her.

"Erm, I'll have two diet cokes please." She replied with a smile which was more to reassure herself that she hadn't been stood up by her best friend. The waiter brought the drinks and left her alone for another half an hour before Anna finally turned up.

"I'm so sorry! I got delayed and I couldn't text you because my phone died."

"It's fine I was planning on leaving if you didn't show soon. I got you a drink." She gestured to the glass sitting on the table."

The two sat for a while just talking about things that had happened to them recently. The coke kept coming and the conversations didn't stop until Anna noticed that someone was staring at them.

"Don't look now but there is a man behind you that is staring at us and I have to say he isn't that bad looking."

"Oh? What does he look like?"

"He's blonde, quite tall and very dashing… Mary, he's walking towards us."

"He is? Let's just pretend we don't know that he's there." The man walked slowly behind Mary and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

"Mary Crawley?" She recognized the deep and very attractive voice from somewhere. She turned to look to find out who it belonged to and there standing in front of her was Matthew Crawley…


End file.
